The Heirloom Edit №15
What on earth is an 'analog' hobby?
What’s an “analog” hobby, you ask? When I first saw the term, I asked myself the same thing.
It turns out, like the “whimsy” I wrote about last week, it’s just a new name for a hobby that doesn’t involve technology. So for those of us born before 2000: most things we grew up doing, and a lot of what we still do — or wish we did more often. Something that doesn’t involve doomscrolling.
Writing. Reading. Painting. Cross stitch. Film photography. Gardening. Knitting. Baking. Sourdough. Woodworking.
You get the idea — these all count as “analog” hobbies now.
I’ll echo my thoughts from last week: rather than feeling annoyed that these things have been renamed and are suddenly “trending” (and I’ve seen plenty of salty social media commenters about it, which is pretty ironic considering where they’re ranting), or lamenting that younger people are just now “discovering” them, I think we should embrace and encourage it.
There’s real opportunity here to preserve skills that might otherwise be lost. My grandmother was an avid knitter, but she passed away when I was eight. She taught me a few basics, but I never got to truly learn from her — and I wish I had. On the flip side, my paternal grandfather is still an active plein air painter, and I’ve been lucky to spend time watching him paint throughout my life.
From being involved in my kids’ school community, I can already see that kids are spending plenty of time on offline activities. The most well-attended parent education events for the youngest age groups center on research about what screens are doing to developing brains and how to set healthy limits. The tide is already shifting.
I also know that kids who spend time with grandparents and older family members naturally absorb some of these skills along the way. If this trend encourages more of that, I can only imagine it’s good for everyone.
On a personal note, most of what I love doing is “analog” — which feels funny to type on the computer where I spend all my working hours. When I’m stuck on a scene in my novel, I still reach for a notebook and pen and physically write my way through it. There’s something visceral about writing by hand.
The analog hobby trend feels like exactly the reminder we all need — to put down the phone and pick up a pen, knitting needle, or paintbrush.
The Curio: Analog Favorites
As always, these are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them — at no additional cost to you. I only share what I genuinely love and have brought, or would bring, into my own home!
This week’s Curio is for everyone who is a little tired of screens — which I suspect is all of us. Think slow hands, satisfying textures, and the particular pleasure of making something that exists in the physical world. A film camera for capturing moments the unhurried way, a sweet lace camera strap because even the tools should be beautiful, and a sourdough beginner kit for the weekends when you actually want to be in the kitchen and the starter I used. A needlepoint kit from Chappywrap that is more meditative than it sounds, a tabletop easel that earns the word cottage, and a travel watercolor set that would make the most perfect gift. And then there is this letter-writing set — because I have been thinking lately about how much I miss the anticipation of waiting for a letter. Not an email. A letter. One that someone touched, folded, and sent on purpose.
Let’s bring back pen pals.
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